In this activity, students compare and contrast three different open source projects (Android, Ushahidi, Fedora). Students will gain a basic understanding of why these exist as open source projects, as well as the operating models and licensing used by each. Students will be provided with directed readings and will answer specific questions to develop the comparisons.

Prerequisite Knowledge

None.

Learning Objectives

Learn the purpose of an open source project

Learn the different operational models and licenses under which projects are developed

Learn the reason a specific project is created

Learn how to contribute to an open source project

Background:

While this activity is tailored to compare and contrast three specific projects, any open source project can be used if there is a point of comparison.

Directions:

Given the following material for three different open source projects:

Comments:

The instructor should have a basic understanding of open source models and licensing. If you're partnering with an open source project, you might consider adding that project to the list of projects being examined.

Additional Information:

Knowledge Area/Knowledge Unit

Social Issues and Professional Practice/Intellectual Property

Topic

Foundations of the open source movement [Familiarity]

Level of Difficulty

Introductory

Estimated Time to Completion

3-4 hours

Materials/Environment

Internet access required

Author

Darci Burdge, Ruby El Kharboutly, Gina Likins, Lori Postner

Source

N/A

License

CC-BY-SA

Suggestions for the Open Source Project:

If you can provide this same set of information to your instructor partner and/or discuss it with the students (over IRC, for example), it would provide an opportunity for students to ask questions about project decisions that they otherwise might not have the opportunity to.